Congressional lawmakers confirmed the nomination of Rostin Behnam, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission who had been serving as acting chairperson, to assume his position on a more permanent basis. In a Wednesday evening voice vote, members of the U.S. Senate approved President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the CFTC. Behnam has served as a commissioner since 2017 and acting chair following the departure of Heath Tarbert in January. Confirmed by voice vote: Executive Calendar #539 Rostin Behnam to be Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. — Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) December 16, 2021 At his confirmation hearing …

Ether's (ETH) 330% year-to-date gain has been largely fueled by the growth of decentralized finance and the explosion of non-fungible tokens. Proof of this comes from OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, surpassing the impressive mark of $10 billion in accumulated trading volume. However, traders worry that the 15% correction that followed the $4,870 all-time high on Nov. 10 could indicate that a larger bearish movement is in place. The rupture of the 55-day ascending channel reinforces this thesis and Friday's $550 million Ether options expiry will likely favor bears. Ethereum's $86 billion total value locked in smart contract contracts, represents …

Ether (ETH) pundits have been shouting that the $5,000 price is 'programmed,' since 2018 and some go even further by calling for $20,000 over the long-term. $5000 $ETH. It is programmed. — Koroush AK (@KoroushAK) October 29, 2021 A portion of these bullish calls are based on ETH 2.0 staking and the reduced inflation resulting from EIP-1559. At this time in 2017, $BTC was around $2k Just 7 months later it was almost $20k What do you think happens when the world wakes up to the APR and deflationary aspect of $ETH that is coming in less than 2 months? …

Bitcoin (BTC) appears to lack the strength to retest the $67,000 all-time high that it reached on Oct. 20 and this is causing investors to question whether or not the bullish moment has faded. Even with the price facing these hurdles, it’s still premature to call the $58,000 support level test the beginning of a descending channel. Among the factors limiting the rally is the regulatory uncertainty in the United States. Anne Termine, a partner in the government enforcement and investigations practice at Bracewell LLP and former chief trial attorney at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that “there …

A group of high-level U.S. government attorneys has oulined their priorities for the enforcement and prosecution of individuals and companies that have committed crypto-related crimes. Enforcement officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) spoke about the direction their agencies will take at a panel discussion at the American Bar Association's annual institute on white-collar crime in Miami on Oct. 27. In addition to corporate players, lawmakers are taking a closer look at individuals according to a report of the event by Law360. Principal deputy assistant attorney general of …

Acting chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, Rostin Behnam has likened the government agency’s enforcement of the digital asset space to a beat cop on duty. At an Oct. 27 hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to assume his position on a permanent basis, Behnam said to chairperson Debbie Stabenow the CFTC has been “aggressively pursuing enforcement cases” in the crypto space for some time, including its $100 million case against crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX and the $42.5 million in fines it levied against Tether and Bitfinex. However, he asked that the …

U.S. regulatory bodies have reportedly agreed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will lead the United States’ efforts to regulate the stablecoin sector. According to an Oct. 26 Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources “familiar with the matter,” the SEC has reached an agreement with other U.S. agencies to take the reins on proposing legislation and overseeing the stablecoin industry. The sources add that the SEC’s newfound “significant authority” over the sector will be formally announced in the Treasury Department’s forthcoming stablecoin report that is scheduled to be published this week. The report will also clarify the regulatory jurisdiction of …

New York-based decentralized prediction market Polymarket has come under investigations from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). According to an Oct. 23 report from Bloomberg citing anonymous sources, the CFTC is investigating whether Polymarket is allowing its customers to trade binary options and swaps that should be registered with the financial regulator. The CFTC is yet to confirm whether it is investigating Polymarket. A spokesperson for the platform stated: “Polymarket is firmly committed to complying with applicable laws and regulations and to providing information to regulators that will assist them with any inquiry.” The report claims that the …

A bounty of up to $1 million has been offered to anyone who can cast light on the precise backing of Tether’s reserves. That backing just got a little bit murkier after Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky reportedly said that Tether mints new Tether (USDT) in exchange for crypto assets — which appears to conflict with Tether’s own terms and conditions. Forensic financial research firm Hindenburg Research tweeted on Wednesday to its 171,000 followers that it holds “doubts about the legitimacy of Tether” and offered a reward of up to $1 million for important details on Tether’s reserves, which it …

On Oct. 15, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, handed sister crypto companies Tether and Bitfinex fines totaling $41 million and $1.5 million, respectively, citing violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, or CEA, and of a prior CFTC order. The regulator has found that Tether, the firm behind an eponymous stablecoin, has only held sufficient fiat reserves to back the dollar-pegged asset for 27.6% of time during the 26-month period under review between 2016 and 2018. The agency also stated that Tether violated the law by holding part of the reserves in non-fiat financial instruments, as well as by …

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said the Treasury Department may be more of a threat to innovation in blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the United States than the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Speaking at the Texas Blockchain Summit in Austin on Friday, Lummis said her recent concerns with the federal agency came from the language concerning brokers of cryptocurrency in the infrastructure bill currently at the center of debate in Congress — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has expressed her support of the legislation. Under the wording passed by the Senate in August, brokers would have to …

This week, United States lawmakers and regulators have stolen much of the spotlight once more. The cryptocurrency-related provisions of the infrastructure bill, a tiny grain of sand in the grand scheme of the omnibus legislation, had all laser eyes glued to the fateful House of Representatives vote — which never happened. There is a sense, however, that the bill will become law sooner rather than later. We have also learned from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifying to Congress that the Fed sees no use in a China-style blanket ban on cryptocurrency, eyeing tighter regulation of stablecoins instead. The latter …